Vibrating-agitating type feeder



July 19, 1960 D. E. WOODMAN VIBRATING-AGITATING TYPE FEEDER 9Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. 17, 1948 I I I E85 5.55;

WM. 2: 2m au uvw Mu 5 P3 m 2 6pm 34 j P I w I H mi N a h mm R 2. NM 3 3N as A INVENTOR. DANIEL E. WQODMAN Y: B ATTORNEY July 19, 1960 D. E.WOODMAN 2,945,580

VIBRATING-AGITATING TYPE FEEDER Original Filed Dec. 17, 1948 9Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. E.

FEEDER INVENTOR. DANIEL E. WOODMAN ATTORNEY July 19, 1960 D. E. WOODMAN2,945,580

VIBRATING-AGITATING TYPE FEEDER Original Filed Dec. 17, 1948 9Sheets-Sheet a Fig .4.

e7 1 l I l I H I i E M l m WEIGHER INVENTOR. DANIEL E. WOODMAN IATTORNEY July 19, 1960 D. E. WOODMAN 2,945,580

VIBRATING-AGITATING TYPE FEEDER Original Filed Dec. 17, 1948 9Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig.5.

WEIGHER INVENTOR. DANIEL E. WOODMAN ATTORNEY July 19, 1960 D. E. WOODMANVIBRATINGAGITATING TYPE FEEDER Original Filed Dec. 17, 1948 9Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTQR. DANIEL E. WOODMAN BY. j p I ATTORNEY.

July 19, 1960 4 D. E. WOODMAN 2,945,580

VIBRATING-AGITATING TYPE FEEDER Original Filed Dec. 17, 1948 9Sheets-Sheet 6 all h in "I CONVEYOR INVENTOR. DANIEL E. WOODMAN ATTORNEYJuly 19, 1960 D WOODMAN VIBRATINGQ-AQITATING TYPE FEEDER 9 Sheets-Sheet8 Original Filed Dec. 1'7, 1948 INVENTOR. DANIEL E. WOODMAN BY: 5 J lATTORNEY July 19, 1960 D. E. WOODMAN Original Filed Dec. 17, 1948 9Sheets-Sheet 9 21 26' O a r INVENTOR.

DAN I EL E. WOODMAN ATTORNEY United States Pate} VlBRATING-AGITATINGTYPE FEEDER Daniel E. Woodman, Decatur, Ga., assignor to The WoodmanCompany, Inc.

Original application Dec. 17, 1948, Ser. No. 65,775, now Patent No.2,749,077, dated June 5, 1956. Divided and this application June 4,1956, Ser. No. 589,244

3 Claims. (Cl. 198-59) This invention relates to a vibrating-agitatingtype feeder, and more particularly to a vibrating-agitating type feederwhich has been found to be particularly useful in feeding potato chipsand the like particulate material to weighing and packaging apparatus,and in the present embodiment it is so shown and described.

This application is a division of my copending patent application SerialNo. 65,775, filed December 17, 1948, for Material Handling Machine. Thatapplication has now matured into U.S. Patent No. 2,749,077, issued June5, 1956.

It is an object of this invention to provide a machine in which thematerial being handled is thoroughly and sufficiently agitated to givean evenly distributed flow of material to the weighing means.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine in which thematerial is handled in a way that fragile products will undergo a veryminimum of. breakage.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine of the classdescribed which is accurate and efiicient in operation, sturdy anddurable in construction and easy and inexpensive to operateand'maintain.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will beapparent from the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing in which like characters of reference designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a complete machine embodying myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, with parts in section, of the feedermechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially along theline 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view, with parts in section, showing theweighing mechanism,

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view, with cover plates removed, of theweigher shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an isomeric, detail view, with parts broken away, of theweighing mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the scale switch mechanism.

Fig. 8 is an isomeric detail view of the damper nozzle rotated through90.

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of theconveyor and packaging mechanism shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a detail of the conveyor and packingmechanism.

Fig. ll is a cross-sectional vertical end view of the conveyor andpackaging mechanism similar to that shown in Fig. 9.

Fig.12 is a perspectiveview, with parts broken away, showing details ofthe conveyor and packaging mechamsm.

Fig.13 is an isometric, detail view, with parts in crosssection, showingthe shaker mechanism.

Fig. 14 is a side elevational view of the upper portion of the feedershowing alternate construction.

2,945,580 Patented July 19, 1960 upright frame member 24. The mainhopper 20 is provided with a kicker plate 25 to which is attached aconnecting link 26 which is pivotally connected to a cam follower arm27. The cam follower arm 27 is mounted for pivotal movement in bearing28, and is provided at its lower end with a cam follower roller 29 whichis activated by cam 30. The cam 30 is driven by appropriate drivemechanism as shown from variable speed motor 31, of any well knownconstruction, and hand lever 32 and links 33, 33' are provided forchanging the speed of the motor in the accustomed manner. An alternateconstruction shown in Fig. 14 has the main hopper 20' movably mounted onsupports 21' with connecting link 26 fastened directly to hopper 20.

Below the main hopper 20 is a primary feeder, designated generally at34. Running substantially centrally through the primary feeder 34 is abafile plate 35 to which there is attached at one end thereof a rockerbar 36 which is rocked, together with the bafile plate 35, by means ofconnecting link 37 attached to connecting rod 38 which is reciprocatedby eccentric 39 mounted on shaft 48.

Below the primary feeder is the secondary feeder having a step plate 41which is reciprocated in a manner somewhat similar to the kicker platein the main hopper 29. For this purpose a stud 42 is fixed to the stepplate 41. Pivotally connected to the stud 42 is a connecting link 43which is pivotally connected to a cam follower arm 44 which is mountedfor pivotal movement about the bronze bushed hub 45. The cam follower 44is provided at its lower end with a cam follower roller 46 which isactuated by cam 47 mounted on shaft 48. At the discharge end of the stepplate 41 is a feed roller 49 which is driven by belt 50 operated from apulley 40' on shaft 40. Idle roller 51 and spring 52 serve to keepproper tension in the belt 50. in the floor plate 53 about the feedroller 49 permit the passage of the spikes 54 on the feed roller 49 andalso permit the filtering or dropping out of small particles of materialbeing handled which fall through chute 55 into the drawer 56 which has afacing 57 which cooperates with the skirting 58 to complete the exteriorof the feeder unit.

Adjacent the feeder unit is the weighing unit shown in detail in Figs. 4to 8 and 13. An inclined shaker hopper 59 is carried in yokes 69 whichslide on the slide bearings 61 which are securely fastened to the framecross members 62. The shaker hopper 59 is held snugly in the yokes 60 bymeans of spring clips 63. The shaker hopper 59 is actuated in itsshaking motion by means of eccentric 64 mounted on shaft 65 supported bybearings 66 which are fixed to the cross members 62. The shaft 65 isdriven by suitable belt drive or other means from variable pitch sheave67 which is mounted on shaft 68 which is driven by suitable belt driveor other means from electric motor 69.

A counter-weight 70 slides in bearing 71 and is at; tached tocounter-weight eccentric follower 72 at one end thereof, and the otherend of the counter-weight eccentric follower has a projection 73 whichis mounted in a self-aligning bronze bearing 74. The counter-weighteccentric 75 is mounted on shaft 65 in position diametrically opposed toeccentric 64. A plurality of upstanding longitudinal ribs 76 arefastened to the floor of the shaker hopper 59.

At the lower end or discharge end of the shaker hopper 59 is a lipportion having converging side walls 77, a cover plate 78 and a sharplyinclined floor 79 which together with the sides 77 and cover plate 78forms a Narrow slits (not shown) B mouth which is controlled by the gate80. The gate 80 is pivoted on hinge rod 81 so as to be normally open dueto the force of gravity. Attached to the gate 80 is an actuating arm 82against which is directed a jet of air or other fluid from nozzle 63.The jet of air from nozzle 83 is controlled, as will be more fullydescribed later, so as to actuate arm 82 to rock the gate 80 on hingerod 81 to close the gate when desired. The hinge rod 81 is secured tothe horizontal frame member 84.

Below the lip portion is a scale hopper 85 mounted on one end of thebeam of scale 86. On the other end of the beam of scale 86 is a weightpan 87 for holding the bu'nter weights or measuring weights for thescale, and attached to the weight pan 87 is an actuating arm 88 againstwhich is directed a jet of air or other fluid from nozzle 89. The jetfrom nozzle 89 is controlled, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, to overcome scale inertia and quickly return the scale beamto the position to again start weighing. Also attached to the same endat the beam of scale 86 as the weight pan 87 and operating therewith isan arm 90 which carries a horseshoeshaped permanent magnet 91. Theposition of the mag net 91 may be adjusted vertically with respect tothe end of arm 90 by means of set screw 92. The arm 90 also serves toactuate the scale indicator 93. Permanent- 1y aflixed to the uprightstandard 94 carrying the scale indicator 93 is a mercury switch mount95. A magnetoperated mercury switch 96 of known construction arrangedfor operation by the .permanent magnet 91 is carried on the lower end ofa plunger 97 mounted in the switch mount 95. The position of the plunger97 and the switch 96 carried thereby is adjustable vertically by meansof a screw-threaded push rod 93 which acts to push the plunger 97downwardly against the action of spring 99 which reacts to exertpressure tending to raise the plunger.

Mounted immediately behind the scale hopper 85 and slightly above thelevel of the floor thereof is a nozzle 100 from which a jet of air orother fluid is directed lon- 'gitudinally of the scale hopper 85 todischarge therefrom the material being handled. The jet from nozzle 100is controlled, as will be hereinafter more fully described. Air or otherfluid passing through nozzle 100 is supplied from a reservoir 101 whichis shown as an upright cylinder forming a precipitation chamber forfreeing the fair or other fluid of excess moisture before it passesthrough nozzle 100. Drain cock 102 is provided in the bottom of thereservoir for drawing off the condensate.

In front of the scale hopper 85 is an inclined snout 103 ofsubstantially conical shape and through which the material passes fromthe scale hopper 85 to a cylinder 104. The material passing from thesnout 103 into a cylinder 104 is aided somewhat by a rotary brush 105driven by an electric motor of conventional design and indicated at 106.Each cylinder 104 has an upper edge 107 inclined to fit the dischargeend of the snout 103 and curved outer edges 108 arranged to fit thebrush 105, as best shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

The cylinders 104 are fastened about the periphery of 'a wheel 109 whichis mounted for-rotation on a vertical drive shaft 110. Electric motor111 is provided for driving the wheel 109 through a speed reducingdevice 112 of conventional design. Connected to the output side of thespeed reducing device 112 is a lower clutch "plate 113 upon which restsfriction clutch disc 114 and on the opposite side of which there isarranged the upper clutch plate 115 which is fixed onto the lower end"of drive shaft 110. The drive shaft 110 passes through a bearinghousing 116 below which is mounted a spring l17'which presses against acollar 118 fixed onto the drive shaft 110 and thus forces the upperclutch plate 115 downwardly against the clutch disc 114. Fixed to theupper clutch plate 115 is a timer plate 119 provided with peripheralnotches 120 with which the timer arm 121 is arranged to cooperate. Thetimer arm 121 is pivoted at one end on the timer arm bearing 122 whichis rigidly mounted on the frame of the machine, indicated generally at123. The timer arm 121 is arranged to be lifted from engagement in anotch by means of the timer arm latch 124 which in turn is arranged tobe lifted by the solenoid 125, the control of which will be described indetail later. The timer plate 119 is also provided with a plurality oftrip pins 126 which are arranged to engage the latch 124 and release thetimer arm 121.

A support 127 affixed to each of the cylinders 104 carries a main catch129 and an auxiliary catch 128. Both the main catch and the auxiliarycatch are pivoted to the support 127 and they are biased by springs 131and 130, respectively, so as normally to bear against the respectivecylinder to which they are attached. The spring 131 on the main catch isrelatively stronger than the spring on the auxiliary catch. Also, themain catch 129 is wider than the auxiliary catch 128 and is arranged tobe lifted out of contact with its associated cylinder 104 by the maincam 132 which is supported by main cam support 133 which is rigidlyaffixed to the frame of the machine. A release cam 134, similarlysupported by a release cam support 134', is -positioned diametricallyopposite the main cam 132 and is arranged to lift both the wide maincatch 129 and the narrow auxiliary catch 128 from contact with theassociated cylinder, as shown in Fig. 11.

In describing the operation of the machine, the material handled will beassu'md to be potato chips for purpose of illustration. The chips arefed into the main hopper 20 by conveyor (not shown) or they may be batchfed by hand. From the main hopper 20 the chips are moved into theprimary feeder 34 by inertia feeding means comprising the kicker plate25 which moves over the bottom of the main hopper with a reciprocatingmotion imparted to it by the connecting link 26 and the cam follower arm27. The movement of the kicker plate toward the upper end of the mainhopper is relatively quick, and the movement toward the discharge end ofthe hopper is relatively slow, so that the kicker plate shifts againstthe inertia of the chips at each stroke and then draws some of the chipstoward the discharge end of the main hopper on each return stroke. Therate of flow from the main hopper to the primary feeder may becontrolled by varying the speed of the motor 31 which drives the kickerplate 25, or by adjustment of the kicker plate adjusting limit screw '27to the throw of the cam follower arm 27, or by adjustment of the disc 22on the screw 21 for raising and lowering the upperend of the mainhopper.

In the alternate arrangement shown in Fig. 14, the chips are moved intothe primary feeder 34 by inertia feeding means accomplished by areciprocating motion imparted to the main hopp'er '20 by the connectinglink 26' and the cam follower arm 27. The movement of the main hopper inthe direction of its upper end being relatively quick, and the movementtoward its lower or discharge end being relatively slow, so that themain hopper shifts against the inertia of the chips at each stroke andthen draws some of its chips toward its discharge end on the returnstroke. 'The rate of flow from the main hopper can be controlled asdescribed in the paragraph above for a main hopper with movable bottom"or kicker plate.

As the chips leave the main hopper 20 they fall onto the bafile plate 35which is being rocked back and forth by means of connecting rod 38. Thebaffle plate rocks the chips back and forth and serves to jiggle thechips loose withoutbreaking them, but at the same time 1005- ening anddistributing large masses of chips into smaller masses and single chips.

From the primary feeder the chips fall'onto the step plate 41 in thesecondary feeder where the chips are further advanced along their pathof travel by inertia hopper.

means, the step plate being reciprocated in a manner somewhat similar tothe kicker plate in the main hopper 20 through cam follower arm 44 whichis actuated by cam 47 so that it moves relatively quickly beneath thechips and against the inertia of the chips and then returns relativelyslowly so as to advance the chip toward the feed roller 49. Because thechips are more Widely separated or more thoroughly scattered on the stepplate 41, the movement of this plate is more rapid than is the movementof the kicker plate 25 in the main The action of the step plate servesfurther to separate remaining masses of chips into single chips.

As the chips approach the feed roller 49, broken pieces of chips fallthrough slits in the floor plate 53 and are caught in the drawer 56 fromwhich they may be removed as desired or after they accumulate. Thespikes 54 on the feed roller 49 serve finally to lift the chipsindividually and feed them into the shaker hopper 59.

The shaker hopper 59 is moved from side to side with a reciprocatingmotion to overcome the gravitational drag of the chips to keep themflowing in a uniform stream down along the inclined floor of the hopperand toward the gate 80 which controls the outlet from the shaker hopper.The reciprocating action of the shaker hopper is made smooth and thevibrations in the machinery are dampened by the kinematic dampener whichoperates to reciprocate the weight '70 in an opposite direction to thatof the shaker hopper and its associated moving structural parts.

As the chips approach the discharge end of the shaker hopper 59, theypass quickly over the sharply inclined floor 79 of the lip portion anddrop into the scale hopper 85. Before any chips enter the hopper '85,the scale is balanced by the customary adjustment of the beam and theposition of the mercury switch 96 is adjusted by means of the push rod98 so that the switch is out of register with the permanent magnet 91,substantially as shown in Fig. 7; then the scale weight corresponding tothe weight of chips desired is placed in the weight pan 87. The gate 80being normally open by gravity,

chips will drop from the lip portion into the scale hopper 85 until theweight of the chips in the scale hopper tilts the beam so as to raisethe permanent magnet 91 into register with the mercury switch 96 whichwill then operate to set in operation a time switch mechanism 144, ofknown commercial type, which operates to energize solenoid valves 135and 136 simultaneously and for a predetermined length of time, thelength being manually adjustable.

The solenoid valve 135 is connected into pipe line 137; and whenenergized, this valve opens to permit compressed air or other fluidunder pressure in the pipe line 137 to flow through branch pipe line 137to the nozzle 83, through branch pipe line 137 to nozzle 89 and throughbranch pipe line 137" to damper nozzle 138 and bag opener nozzle 138'.The bag opener nozzle does not hold open the bag which is being filled,but is merely arranged on the machine in a position to direct air intothe bag next adjacent to the bag which has been carried into fillingposition. The solenoid valve 136 is connected'into the pipe line 139;and when energized, this valve opens to permit compressed air or otherfluid under pressure to flow from the reservoir 10 1 ;through the pipeline 139 to the nozzle 100. The jet from nozzle 83 impinges uponactuating arm 82 which operates to close the gate 80 so as to stop theflow of chips from the shaker hopper 59 into the scale hopper 85.Simultaneously with the closing of the gate 80, the jet from nozzle 100blows the Weighed batch of chips from the scale hopper 85; the jet fromnozzle 89 impinges upon actuating arm 88 which operates to return thescale beam quickly to the normal pre-weighing position in which theweight pan 87 is lowered and the empty scale hopper is in the raised orfilling position; and the jets from the 7 openings in damper nozzle 138impinge upon 'the cover on top of the cover plate 140. Thus it is seenthat the weighed batch of chips is quickly emptied from the scalehopper, the hopper is thoroughly cleaned and the return of the scalebeam to the pre-weighing position in readiness for the next batch ofchips to be weighed is expedited and accomplished in a minimum of time,all by fluid pressure. Bag opener nozzle 138' is arranged to direct ablast of air or other fluid into the bag on a cylinder 104 immediatelybefore it reaches the shout 103 so that it will be blown open to receivethe chips which will pour into it from the snout.

Coincidentally with the return of the scale beam to the pre-weighingposition, the permanent magnet-91 is lowered out of registry with themercury switch 96 which immediately operates to de-energize solenoidvalves 135 and 136 which then operate to close and simultaneously shutoff the supply of compressed air, or other fluid under pressure, tonozzles 33, 89, 100 and 138. With the jet from nozzle 83 shut off, thescale hopper 85 remains in its raised pre-weighing position due to theunbalanced weight of the scale weights in weight pan 87. With the jetfrom nozzle 83 shut off the gate 80 is promptly opened by the pull ofgravity, and the chips again start pouring from the shaker hopper 59into the scale hopper 85, the chips having accumulated momentarily atthe discharge and begin sliding rapidly over the sharply inclined floor79.

After being blown out of the scale hopper 85, the chips pass through thedownwardly inclined conical snout 103, and into and through one of thecylinders 104 which are attached to the wheel 109, one at the end ofeach spoke 109. The chips are aided in their passage through thecylinders 104 by the brush which rotates so as to brush the chips alongand helps overcome any back pressure which may be built up. Each timethe mercury switch 90 is operated by the proper amount of chips on thescale, it acts to set in operation a time switch mechanism 141, ofordinary commercial construction, which de-energizes the solenoid 125for a predetermined time. This predetermined time is governed by thetime it takes to empty the chips from the scale hopper 85 and have thempass through one of the cylinders 104, and the delay imposed by themechanism 141 may be adjusted accordingly by means of the knob 142 onthe control panel 143. The receptacle positioning mechanism is not setin operation until after the time delay imposed by the above recitedmechanism has elapsed; thus, a receptacle is held in stationary positionbeneath the discharge means for a period of time calculated to empty theweighed material from the scale into the receptacle, and itis only thenthat the receptacle positioning mechanism advances to position an emptyreceptacle beneath the discharge means. When the solenoid 125 isenergized, it operates to lift the timer arm latch 124 which in turnlifts the timer arm 121 from engagement with a notch 120 in the timerplate 119. When the timer arm is lifted out of engagement, theconstantly rotating lower clutch plate 11 3 drives the upper clutchplate to rotate wheel 109. The timer plate 119 rotates with the upperclutch plate 115 and causes a trip pin 126 to engage the timer arm latch124 and release the timer arm 121 which then drops down onto the timerplate 119 and falls into the next peripheral notch and holds the upperclutch plate 115 from further rotation until the solenoid 125 is againenergized as the time switch mechanism 141 completes its cycle ofoperation. There is a notch 120 corresponding with each cylinder 104, sothat when the timer arm 121 falls into a notch 120 to stop the rotationof the wheel 109, the next successive cylinder 104 in order of rotationis correctly positioned in front of the inclined snout 103 to receivethe next batch of chips blown from the scale hopper.

As the wheel 109 progresses, step by step, an operator is required toplace a paper bag 'or other container on the lower end of the cylinders194. This is done when the cylinder is in the position shown at the leftin Fig. 11 when the main cam 132 has lifted the main -catch 129 out ofcontact with .its associated cylinder 104 and only the auxiliary catch128 remains in contact with the cylinder .so that the bar or othercontainer can be easily inserted between the cylinder and the auxiliarycatch, against the action of the relatively weaker spring 130 whichhowever is sufiicient to hold the empty container in place on thecylinder. As the wheel 109 rotates, the main catch 129 is released andboth the main catch 129 and the auxiliary catch 128 act to hold thecontainer onto the associated cylinder 104 during the filling operationand until the wheel 1119 progresses so as to bring the cylinder 104 tothe position shown at the right in Fig. 11 where both the catches 128,129 are lifted out of contact by operation of the release cam 134 andthe container drops off of the cylinder by the pull of gravity upon thecontainer and its contents".

A spill race 144 is provided to guide any spilled chips into areceptacle (not shown) in the event that a bag were not in place on acylinder 104 under the snout 193 when chips are discharged therefrom.

Air or other operating fluid under pressure is supplied to the machineat 145 and passes first to the line pressure gauge 146 and then to thefilter unit 147, of ordinary construction. Leaving the filter unit, theoperating fluid passes to the connection 148 from whence pipe line 137leads to the solenoid valve 135. In the pipe line 137 is a connection149 to which may be attached a hose (not shown) for air blasting themachine in cleaning it. Also leading from the connection 148 is a pipeline 150 which conducts operating fluid to the reservoir 191. The pipeline 150 is provided with a control valve 152 and a pressure gauge 151for use in regulating the pressure of the operating fluid supplied tothe nozzle inasmuch as different sized batches of chips generallyrequire a blast of different strength to remove them from thescalehopper.

vA scale blister 153, shown in Fig. 5, protects the scale and itsassociated operating parts. A bag guide 154 is provided to maintain thebags upright while filling, and a bag rest 155 is attached to the guidefor supporting the bag. The bag to be filled rides up on the rest 155 asits associated cylinder 1104 comes under the snout 183, so that theweight of the chips pouring from the snout into the bag will'notdislodge it from the cylinder to which it is attached.

It will be realized that various modifications and changes can be madein the embodiment shown and described without departing from the scopeof my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, a main hopper having an endarranged for vertical adjustment and being provided with a kicker plate,means for imparting a longitudinal reciprocating movement to said kickerplate for advancing material through said main hopper, a primary feederlocated below said main hopper for receiving material therefrom, abafiie plate in said primary feeder, means for imparting a rockingmovement to said baffle plate for advancing material through saidprimary feeder, a secondaryfeeder located below said primary feeder forreceiving material therefrom, said secondary feeder being provided witha step plate, means for imparting a longitudinal reciprocating motion tosaid step plate for advancing material through said secondary feeder, aninclined shaker hopper located below said secondary feeder for receivingmaterial therefrom, a feed roller adjacent the discharge end of saidsecondary feeder for lifting the material from said secondary feederinto said shaker hopper, means for imparting a sidewise reciprocatingmovement to said shaker hopper to advance the material therethrough, andmeans to counter balance the movement of said shaker hopper.

2. In a machine of the class described, a main hopper provided with akicker plate, means for imparting a longitudinal reciprocating movementto said kicker plate for advancing material through said main hopper, aprimary feeder located below said main hopper for receiving materialtherefrom, a bafile plate in said primary feeder, means for imparting arocking movement to said baffle plate for advancing material throughsaid primary feeder, a secondary feeder located below said primaryfeeder for receiving material therefrom, said secondary feeder beingprovided with a step plate, means for imparting a longitudinalreciprocating motion to said step plate for advancing material throughsaid secondary feeder, an inclined shaker hopper located below saidsecondary feeder for receiving material therefrom, means for imparting asidewise reciprocating movement to said shaker hopper to advance thematerial therethrough, and means to counter balance the movement of saidshaker hopper.

3. In a machine of the class described, a primary feeder, a baffie platein said primary feeder, means for imparting a rocking movement to saidbafiie plate for advancing material through said primary feeder, asecondary feeder located below said primary feeder for receivingmaterial therefrom, said secondary feeder being provided with a stepplate, means for imparting a longitudinal reciprocating motion to saidstep plate for advancing material through said secondary feeder, aninclined shaker hopper located below said secondary feeder for receivingmaterial therefrom, a feed roller adjacent the discharge end of saidsecondary feeder for lifting the material from .said secondary feederinto said shaker hopper, means for imparting a sidewise reciprocatingmovement to said shaker hopper to advance the material therethrough, andmeans to counter balance the movement of said shaker hopper.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS474,777 Keith May 10, 1892 1,303,552 Gilman May 13, 1919 1,497,576Molins June 10, 1924 2,337,174 Bebinger Dec. 21, 1943 2,458,077 JacobsenJan. 4, 1949 2,499,171 Sinden Feb. 28, 1950 2,618,377 May Nov. 18, 1952FOREIGN PATENTS 197,312 Great Britain Oct. 11, 1923

